The list of the so-called dubious recipients of Vice President Sara Duterte’s office’s confidential funds also includes “Dodong Gang,” “Jay Kamote,” and “Miggy Mango,” a House leader disclosed Sunday, fueling speculations that the acknowledgment receipts (ARs) were fabricated or hastily prepared to justify the use of the funds.
Like the infamous Mary Grace Piattos, who allegedly received the biggest chunk of the OVP’s secret funds, the new findings revealed more bizarre names, such as “Jay Kamote,” “Miggy Mango,” as well as Dodong Alcala, Dodong Bina, Dodong Bunal, Dodong Darong, and Dodong S. Barok.
According to House Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V, these supposed beneficiaries have no birth, marriage, or death records at the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Of the 1,992 supposed fund recipients, records show that 1,322 had no birth records, 1,456 had no marriage records, and 1,593 had no death records.
“First, they [were named after a snack and cellphone]. Now, [they also include] fruits and sweet potatoes…This is not just negligence—this is a carefully planned embezzlement of public funds,” Ortega, allied with the administration and posing as Duterte’s critic, lamented.
“The names are fake, the liquidation is fake, and the accountability is fake,” the La Union solon added.
This recent revelation, he said, added weight to the evidence of the prosecution against the impeachment case of Duterte, which is expected to be tried in the Senate in late July.
Duterte was impeached on 5 February, with 215 House lawmakers, or more than double the required 1/3 votes (102 signatories), voting to endorse the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
The House outlined seven articles of impeachment, the majority of which were anchorebned on Duterte’s purported misappropriation of P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to her office and the Department of Education during her tenure as its secretary.
Previous findings by the PSA showed that of the 1,992 supposed fund recipients, 1,322 had no birth records, 1,456 had no marriage records, and 1,593 had no death records.
Ortega asserted that the discovery of more fictitious names highlights the extent of the alleged fraud, reinforcing a “scam” of purported fake beneficiaries used to justify the misuse of public funds.
The recent report of the PSA followed an earlier exposure of recipients, namely “Mary Grace Piattos,” “Pia Piatos-Lim,” and “Renan Piatos,” whose surnames, they alleged, emulate a local brand of potato chips.
Another “Xiaome Ocho,” whose name resembles a Chinese model smartphone, also appeared on the previous list of confidential funds beneficiaries.
State auditor Gloria Camora earlier confirmed to the House Blue Ribbon Committee, which has been investigating the use of confidential funds, that Duterte’s office submitted ARs with no names but signatures, had unreadable names, while some bore the same name.
Lawmakers have raised concerns about the authenticity of the ARs given the irregularities in the documents, which added to their suspicions of corruption and the illegitimacy of the activities for which the funds were supposedly used.
Despite the serious allegations, Duterte repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and contended that the accusations were part of a political attack against her to derail her presidential ambition in the 2028 polls.